SOCAR Polymer to create clusters to kick-start Azeri SMEs

SOCAR, Azerbaijan’s state-owned oil company, is to use its new $750m petrochemical complex to kick-start the country’s SME sector by providing small to medium sized enterprises with a range of about 200 types of raw materials and semi-finished products they can use to produce anything from household appliances to complex machinery and machines. Two industrial complexes are to be developed to house the SMEs, the first at the Sumgayit Chemical Industrial Park some 30km north of Baku where plant, with an annual production capacity of 120,000 tonnes of high density polyethylene and 180,000 of polypropylene is being built, and the second on a landfill site in the capital’s Balakhani district. It is envisaged that 30% of the yielded products will supply the domestic market, with most of the remainder being exported to Turkey and Europe.

“The creation of clusters will provide an opportunity for small and medium-sized businesses to unite around SOCAR Polymer and the landfill site, and to create their own production chain based on raw materials produced at these enterprises,” the director of the Research Institute of Economic Reforms Vilayat Veliyev said on Monday. “With the creation of clusters in Azerbaijan, a new stage in the development of its industry will begin.” The petrochemical complex is scheduled to become operational in Q1 2018 and is a key element in government plans to diversify Azerbaijan’s industrial base.